The Train
by Roonwit
Summary: Multiple perspectives of the train accident that happened in The Last Battle, including the train engineer's viewpoint.


Updated Author's Note: It seems that several readers have misunderstood my style. This story is deliberately told in a matter-of-fact, simple style because it is how I _wanted _it told. It is the author's choice to tell the story in the way he wants to and I chose to tell it _this_ way.

This is a revised version of this author's note section.

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_Then Tirian realized that these people could see him; they were staring at him as if they saw a ghost. But he noticed that the king-like one who sat at the old man's right never moved (though he turned pale) except that he clenched his hand very tight. Then he said:  
"Speak, if you're not a phantom or a dream. You have a Narnian look about you and we are the seven friends of Narnia."_

_~The Last Battle _by C.S. Lewis

Peter rose to his feet and turned toward the image. It was of a man in his twenties. He was bound to a tree by rope and appeared equally shocked to see Peter and the others. The man tried to speak, but apparently could not.

"Shadow or spirit or whatever you are…if you are from Narnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. I am Peter the High King."

The man still did not speak and his image began to fade. Who was this man and why had he appeared to them? He vanished before any facts could be learned.

Peter turned to face the others, their faces still contorted in bewilderment. He took his place at the table, joining his friends Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Eustace Scrubb, Jill Pole, and his younger siblings, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie.

"I called us all together because I knew something like this would happen tonight. I knew Aslan had a purpose for us yet," Digory said to the others.

"By Jove, we must help that man!" Eustace exclaimed.

They all came to an agreement on that point, but the hard part was how they were going about it. None of them were likely to ever find a way to Narnia again.

"Professor, surely you know of a way that we might once again find Narnia?" Lucy asked.

The Professor thought about this for several minutes before his lips spread into a smile. His eyes darted to meet Polly's.

"Could it be the magic rings would still work?"

"By Golly, you are onto something! But they are buried in London, aren't they?" Polly asked.

"Then we shall dig them up," the Professor replied, still smiling.

Nearly one week later, Peter and Edmund arrived in London. The house had been easy enough to find, but the problem was getting the rings without being seen. (The house had been sold and one couldn't simply walk into the backyard and start digging!)

"There's the garden! Hand me the shovel," Peter instructed his brother.

They found the spot and Peter started digging where the Professor told him he would find the rings. Sure enough, after a few minutes, he found them.

"Ha! So there are the rings! Amazing." Edmund seemed awed because he had heard the story about these rings, including how they brought Jadis, the White Witch, to Narnia along with the Professor and Polly.

"Yes, there is quite a bit of history in these, but we can talk about it later. Let's go before somebody sees us," Peter replied.

"Who's out there? What are you doing?" a voice called out from the house.

"We're just working on the drains," Peter yelled in the direction of the voice.

Edmund gave his brother a puzzled look. The drains? He then remembered the plan. They had dressed in workmen uniforms and were supposed to say they were working on the drains if anyone saw them. _Good thing the Professor had worked that out_, Edmund thought.

Eustace and Jill boarded the train the next day. The Professor had gotten a wire from Peter and Edmund, saying they had the rings, and they were to meet them on the platform in London. The plan was for Eustace and Jill to get the rings from Peter and, with all hope, use them to go to Narnia. The Professor, Polly, and Lucy were also on the train. They all wanted to meet again and work out the last minute details, especially since Eustace and Jill had never used the rings.

As the train was arriving at the London platform, Eustace looked out the window to see if he could spot Peter and Edmund, but he couldn't. The train was going really fast…faster than it should be going. Wasn't it supposed to be slowing as it approached the platform? The next sound the passengers on the train heard was a loud crash as they were all thrown forward, lost their balance, and fell down.

Eustace looked around the train carriage. It was in a state of chaos. _What about Jill? Where is Jill?_ Eustace's mind was racing and he was growing fearful that something had happened to her. His eyes surveyed the carriage until, at last, found her. His legs ached as he tried to stand on them, but he found his way to Jill's side. She was unconscious and covered in blood.

"Jill! Are you all right? Jill, wake up."

She opened her eyes and moaned in pain. Eustace took her hand into his own and tears began to sting his eyes. _What if she died? What would he do without her?_

The carriage began to move, almost to spin around him. Everything became blurry and Eustace was dizzy. He felt a force pulling on him and he held onto Jill's hand as tightly as he could. What was happening? The carriage began to resemble a field or perhaps a forest. Narnia? Yes, Eustace was sure this was in fact Narnia. He looked around and found himself standing beside Jill. She wasn't hurt! She was all right and so was he. He gave thanks to Aslan for saving them.

He was so excited that he didn't notice that tied to a nearby tree was the man they saw a week ago-the man they would later know as King Tirian.

Peter and Edmund saw the train approaching, but something didn't seem right.

"Hey Ed, isn't the train coming into the platform a bit too quickly?"

"Yeah, it is. I don't know how it can come around the bend at that speed. It is likely to derail!"

The train was making a loud screeching sound, as if the brakes were straining as hard they could to stop the wheels, but knew they were about to fail at their effort.

"By the Lion, I think it is going to crash! Ed, look out!" Peter tried to warn his brother. Edmund's eyes widened and he would have moved or said something, but he found himself unable to. Fear had a tight hold.

Peter looked around at the crowd of people on the platform. They too had noticed the train and were all yelling and running, but the train was seconds from a collision. Oh, Aslan, help us! Peter called out to the Great Lion just before he threw his brother down on the ground and covered him with his own body. It was something an older brother would do by pure instinct. The truth is that Peter didn't even realize he was doing it.

There was a loud crash and both Peter and Edmund felt like something had hit them, but the funny thing was that it didn't even hurt.

The train engineer looked at the clock and sighed. He was never going to make it to London on time. He was already running at full speed, but he knew he would lose even more time when the train had to brake for the upcoming downhill grade. There was one way to lessen the lost time, though: he would lock the secondary brakes but leave the throttle at full. This would slow the train just enough for him to safely descend the hill, but it would also keep him from using those brakes again until they could cool down; however, it wouldn't be a problem. He would just use the primary brakes to stop at London's platform.

Ten minutes later, the train leveled off at the bottom of the hill with the secondary brakes glowing red hot. The engineer smiled. He had lost almost no time and if he kept the throttle at full speed, he would make it to London after all.

He was three miles from London now so he decided to back the throttle down; however, he found that the throttle switch wouldn't move: it was stuck on full. He turned pale as he remembered the emergency procedure. It was to lock both primary and secondary brakes and cut power to the engine. He cut the power, but the brakes? No. He had no secondary brakes.

Two miles from London. The train was never going to stop. He pulled again on the throttle. No movement. He locked the primary brakes, but they quickly began to screech. They were getting hot. One-half mile to London and the train was still too fast. The brakes were not designed to stop a train that was going this fast. One-quarter mile to London and he saw the bend ahead. He closed his eyes and heard the screeching brakes.

_Oh, God, what have I done?_ He thought about the innocent people on the train and on the platform ahead. For a brief moment, he thought of jumping off, but how could he live knowing he had killed so many people? _No, I must stay with the train. This is my fault and I deserve what is going to happen_, he thought.

"Oh God, forgive me for what I have done!" he cried out.

As the train neared the platform, the engineer would have sworn he saw a lion, just for a brief few seconds. The lion almost gave him a comforting look--a feeling of peace. How was this possible? The engineer felt like he was forgiven for what he had done, as if everything was going to be ok. The lion disappeared, but the engineer could still feel his presence.

There was a loud crashing sound and everything faded into darkness, but the engineer was no longer afraid.

"_There _was_ a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are-as you used to call it in the Shadowlands-dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." _

_~The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis_


End file.
